The Constant Traveller

kc dyer
5 hours ago
3 min read

Rod Baker writes about life's journeys

What do a middle-of-the-night tugboat crash into Haida Gwaii, an unexpected Master's degree and a five-year stint racing moto-cross have in common?

According to long-time Lions Bay resident Rod Baker, these are just a few of the elements of a life filled with lessons learned. And a little more than a decade ago, he decided they might be worth writing down.

Baker was born in the United Kingdom, and emigrated to Canada in his early twenties.

With a lifetime of eclectic experiences to draw on, Baker decided to begin at the beginning, and reached back to a pivotal decision made at just 16 years old, when he ran away to join the Merchant Navy.

It is this decision that informs his first book, Constant Traveller, but it's clear from a conversation with Baker that a love of adventure has underpinned much of his life.

I Need My Yacht By Friday, his second book, addresses his life building and repairing boats. Um, Where Is Belize? is the story of a madcap trip south that Baker took with a long-lost cousin to check out the possibility of life and work in Central America.

Unexpected Treasures came out of the career change that led him to that Master's degree and a new life working as a counsellor in the mental health non-profit sector.

And in The Shilling Thieves, Baker's most recent book, he goes back to the beginning to remember stories from his childhood.

A long-time insomniac, Baker solves the problem by writing through the sleeplessness, where he says his most productive hours are often between 3 and 5 a.m.

He credits former Lions Bay resident Karen Dodd with the inspiration to get his memories on paper. Dodd introduced Baker to her writing community, and to the North Shore Writers Association, where he picked up all that he needed to know before embarking on his publishing journey.

"After hearing how many rejections Martin Crosbie had before becoming a best-seller with a self-published book, I decided to go straight to self-publishing," he said. "It was so much work to just get the book written. I'm lazy and it seemed easy."

And what's the best part of the process? Baker says he gets the most satisfaction from reading people's comments on Amazon.

A quick glance shows just how popular his stories are. "Funny, sad and crazy." "Great read!" "Better than Netflix!"

Baker says he has no interest in writing fiction, but instead enjoys telling stories that take his readers through the lessons he's learned in all his varied careers.

These days, Baker says he is mostly retired. Considering he's a writer, it's not really clear he understands what the word means, as he still maintains a counselling practice, mentors Masters students, and is, of course, working on his next book.

Maybe that stint with motocross driving will show up yet!